Wednesday, December 16, 2015

My house is a giant playground to me, my husband and grandchildren. More books than I will ever read, more art supplies than I will use up and wood cutting tools. Nevertheless, I loved trotting into the Museum of Fine Arts on Wednesday evenings. Paula Pitman Brown set up still lifes and we painted in acrylics or oil...or any other subject we wanted to work on. Every so often, I enjoy the structure and routine of a class, camaraderie of students and looking at things in a new way.

My out-of-class painting happened one night when I forced myself to paint at home. The tv reports of the Paris bombings came on so I just started painting Bones who was hanging by the easel. Then I wanted to add an eiffel tower on canvas with red, white and blue flowers, hopefully growing off the easel canvas. Toward the end of the paint sketching, President Obama was on tv in Antalya, Turkey, addressing the G20 Summit re the terrorist attacks. I caught in paint, a few days in time. It needs more painting, but I am stopping. I will paint the differently next time in oils.

Two of my class still lifes are the bird in frame, painted mostly in green, and houses w violin, painted predominantly in browns made up of colors other than browns or blacks. A good visual exercise!

In the meantime there was Thanksgiving. I suggested that Hannah paint a tree on poster board and cut out leaves for people to add what they were grateful for. She outdid herself and it was a worthy endeavor. Later when I told Joe she would like a light box (SHHHHHH), he made her one for under the tree. Note: he sprayed clear acrylic we had on hand with white paint for opacity and got a 40 watt specialty long bulb. You don't need wood but could create with a sturdy box.

And last, but not least, Erika told Joe she wanted to make something and rummaged through his wood strips to shape a birdhouse which he and she built together. She is still painting on it but may now be finished. She painted with nylon brushes and those bottles of liquid acrylic paint one finds at a craft store.

About Me

Blogging is fun. It stimulates productivity. I draw, stitch and create with paint, fabric, wax and paper. I like to keep up with friends, share my discoveries and maintain records and memories by posting in this blog. I also enjoy making books and movies that Macs simplify. You can view all the posts for several years here or see my paintings and quilts at my website: http://Lindahicksweb.com/